


Out We Go

by Biscuit Lion (cookiethelion)



Series: Valet Service [13]
Category: British Comedy RPF
Genre: Apes & Monkeys, Chinese Zodiac, Crack, Dogs, Dragons, M/M, Minor Violence, Rooster(s), Sheep & Goats
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-05
Updated: 2014-05-06
Packaged: 2018-01-18 03:59:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1414270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cookiethelion/pseuds/Biscuit%20Lion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tom and Ben have a game called "Out We Go".</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by LittleAppleAngel  
> \----
> 
> 11\. [A Horse Walks Into A Bar](http://archiveofourown.org/works/915885/chapters/1776522)  
> 12\. [Story of the Jade](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1101588)  
> 13\. [Black Mane, White Tail](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1162253)  
> 14\. **Out We Go**

It was funny how being in the heat of a fight brought out the oddest questions. Ben was kneeling on the floor of his treehouse, using Tom’s staff as support, and Tom used his rake to fend off each blow from the scythe Valet Capricorn was wielding with ease, all while Matthew lingered weapon-less near him. Yet as Ben watched Tom, and as he hoped that Milton would arrive soon, he couldn’t help but also wonder how she was able to walk – let alone fight – in that black fishtail skirt she had on.

Not that it seemed to be hindering her in any way; she only needed to take a small step forward and a swing of her scythe to force Tom back and out of harm’s way. With her next swing, he blocked it again between the middle teeth of the rake, but it took some effort to push the blade off. He ran the moment he was free, back over to Ben.

“Hold her off,” he said to Matthew. He knelt down by Ben. “I need my staff.”

Ben reached out one hand for his rake, and only let go of the staff when he grabbed his own weapon. He would have spoken, but he didn’t trust being able to open his mouth without letting something out. Instead, he placed the toothed end of the rake onto the ground, and shifted his legs so he was kneeling on it to hold it down.

Overhead, Matthew was screaming at Tom to hurry up as he was forced into ducking, dodging and weaving all of Capricorn’s blows. It was an upside that Tom and Ben’s treehouse was bigger than his own, but that gave him hardly any more space before running into a wall. He had never been more relieved when, as he was backed into another wall, Tom jabbed his staff at Capricorn’s back, and succeeded in poking her on the hips, the tip just slipping under the hem of her garnet waistcoat.

She turned around and tried to retaliate, except the tip of her scythe met the metal end of the staff. Tom retreated as he dragged his weapon away, and she followed him, her blade arching high above her head and almost scraping the roof. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Matthew dashing over to Ben again.

While it was harder for him to block Capricorn’s blows, Tom was still glad he had his more streamlined staff on hand again; the unbalanced weight with Ben’s rake had been slowing him down. He sidestepped another swipe, and twirled his staff over his head, ready for another attempt to get her, when a rather cold breeze drifted into the house. For a moment, Tom could feel his shirt and jeans clinging to his skin and, like Capricorn, had to stop – but it was long enough for Milton to glide in through the window.

Milton took the staff out of Tom’s hands, but Capricorn was already running from him. He chased her across the house, and she leapt out of another window; he stuck his head out, and saw her climb down the side of the tree, hassle free despite her skirt, and she ran off northwards, away from the two houses. He turned back round, and went straight over to Ben.

“Ben, are you OK?” he said. Ben nodded, but kept his head down. He tried to let go of his rake, but must have still been feeling the side effects of Capricorn’s presence, because he had to grab it again. This time, though, only his right hand caught the rake. Tom caught his left hand, but it remained limp in his grasp.

“Clarky?” said Tom. “Come on, out we go.” In response, Ben gripped Tom’s hand, and they remained interlinked.

“It’s a game they have,” said Matthew to Milton. “They have to hold hands if one of them says out we go.”

“I see,” said Milton. “Anyway, how long ago did Valet Capricorn get here?”

“I don’t know … I think … maybe five minutes.”

“Yeah, somewhere round there,” said Tom.

Milton frowned, and checked his watch. “That’s odd. I got your emergency call two minutes ago.”

“We _did_ wonder why you were taking so long,” said Matthew.

“I only got Matthew’s. I didn’t know you two were here as well.”

“…That can’t be right.”

Milton remained silent. He crossed his arms, and kept his glare on the floor as he thought over everything that had happened so far. Right now, though, the only thing he was certain on was how to keep his members safe.

“I want you three to move out for now,” he said. “I don’t want Valet Capricorn finding you again.”

“We can’t leave,” said Ben. “Where are we going to go?”

“I think … I might have to … I’m sure Tuck won’t mind, but I think you need to stay close to other Valets. I know Tim and Mark have got a tent somewhere–”

“Sorry Milton, but I don’t think we _can_ go there.”

“Why not?”

“We haven’t seen each other since Sagittarius’ attack,” said Tom. “It’s all still a bit … awkward, you know.”

“Can’t you talk to them…?”

“We don’t have a problem with Mark. It’s Tim we’re concerned about.”

“You know what he’s like,” said Matthew. “He hardly admits he’s wrong.”

“I don’t like the idea of you staying here either.”

“We’ll be _fine_.”

“I’m worried you won’t be. Valet Capricorn must have got your location from Valets Scorpio and Sagittarius. If she did, they must have also told her about their experiences with you three. She’s going to know you a lot better than they did.”

“We’ll be OK. Scorpio and Sagittarius turned out to be less threatening than we thought.”

Milton just frowned. He wanted to snap at them, force them to do his bidding and evacuate them at that moment, but he thought back to the last time it happened, to that week and a half before Valet Scorpio’s appearance. Given how they had an actual threat this time, it wasn’t worth risking dividing his Clan now.

“Fine. You can stay here, but on two conditions,” he said. “Matthew, keep your spade with you at all times. I know you don’t like it, but you have to be on guard.”

“Fair enough–”

“The second thing – Tom, Matthew, you _must_ keep Ben out of her way. I know what you want to say, but listen to me. The thing that scares me most right now is that she could be even worse than Valet Sagittarius. I don’t want a repeat of what happened.”

“Don’t worry,” said Ben. “We’ve gone through worse.”

“I know, but…” Milton wanted to assert his authority again, but instead changed subjects. “Anyway, I need to go and let the other leaders know. I doubt Valet Capricorn’s going to be back soon, but just in case…”

He watched Tom move his arm so that his staff straddled his shoulders instead. Milton tried to smile reassuringly, but he could barely get his cheeks to lift, and he knew that he was convincing no-one. He gave them a final nod, and went to leave through the front door, but stopped several steps in when something sparkled on the floor. He picked up what looked like a silver canine, with the tip prodding into his thumb.

“Ben,” he said as he turned round. “I think your rake’s missing a tooth.”

He didn’t need to see the rake up close; just the colour alone was enough to convince him. He handed the tooth over, and Ben flipped the rake round. The fifth one in from the left was chipped.

“How many have you got left?” said Tom. Ben jabbed his finger over each one, and counted under his breath.

“Eight,” he said. “Hang on, I can fix this.” His palms glowed as he aligned the chipped ends as accurate as he could, and the cracks disappeared as the two metallic ends reconnected.

Milton soon left with Matthew, though the moment they climbed down from the tree, the former began with, “I actually have one more thing I want to say.”

“OK,” said Matthew.

“I think you need to stay away from the flat for now,” said Milton. Matthew just looked at him. “I’m not using this as an excuse to keep you away. We were lucky to get away with Valet Scorpio last time.”

“I know.” Matthew still didn’t seem surprised.

“I’m not asking you to stay away forever. Just for a couple of days … or at least until we know for certain what’s happening with Valet Capricorn.”

“That’s fine.”

“…You’re taking this very well.”

“I don’t have a choice.”

Milton just smiled and gave him a pat on his back. He stayed for a while longer to watch Matthew made his way back to his own home, but was distracted by two nearby wild rabbits chewing on a tuft of grass. When the door slammed shut, the rabbits dashed away, and Milton took off into the air.

When he returned to the flat, he first dashed into Humphrey’s room to send a message to the other leaders. It was only when he came out, and saw Humphrey staring at him, that he then recited events to his master.

“Are you sure she’s not going to come over and attempt to destroy the flat?” said Humphrey.

“Yes. Valet Scorpio was a one-off,” said Milton. Seeing how unconvinced Humphrey looked, he added, “The last time a Western Valet bothered us was with my Horse Valet. We stayed well away from here.”

“I know…”

“But…?”

“You do remember I’m in Edinburgh for most of next week?”

“Of course I do. Why are you worried? You can trust me with the keys.”

Even though Humphrey didn’t answer, his worried look brought back earlier misgivings Milton had about his members. Eventually, Humphrey only moved when his phone started to ring, and as he went to fetch it, Milton slipped back into his master’s bedroom. He picked up the jar again, but paced around the room several times. With each completed loop, he thought about calling Matthew, Tom, and Ben, but he held back each time. Maybe he really was just over-imagining the situation; they had, after all, seen a lot of differences in all the Western Valets to have emerged so far.

He put the jar down, but hadn’t let go yet when he recalled the issue with the emergency calls. For a moment, he considered picking it up again and actually sending out a call, but in the end, he let go. After all, once Humphrey was gone, he would have plenty of opportunities to check on them.


	2. Chapter 2

Humphrey’s five day stay in Edinburgh meant that it was the first time Milton ever touched the keys to the flat. Even after seeing his master off, Milton just stood by the closed door, staring at the two different sized silver keys resting on his palm. He had total control of the flat now – but the first thing he chose to do was to take off his coat, and leave through the front door. He didn’t like the idea of leaving a window unlocked while nobody was in the flat; just because they were on the top floor, it was still better to be safe. If anything were to happen, his contract would hold him responsible.

To Milton’s relief, he didn’t run into Gertrude or Warren, and the moment he left through the main front doors, he went round the side, to the alley where The Boy usually met him. He made sure to stand in between Gertrude’s windows as he slipped his coat back on, and then dropped the keys in the pocket.

It wasn’t a challenge at all to navigate his way out of the alley, and he was soon making his way over to Tom and Ben’s. When he arrived overhead, he was about to dive onto the porch when he caught a glimpse of the ground. He squinted and shaded his eyes with his hand; was that mud he could see circling the tree? It hadn’t rained at all for the past two days, so how could it have been formed? Then Milton spotted Matthew standing by the edge, and he descended down towards him.

“Did you do this?” said Milton, as he jabbed towards the moat of mud. He saw Matthew’s glowing palms, the goat horns on his head, and his rather clean spade sticking out of the ground by his legs.

“Yeah, I did,” said Matthew. Milton didn’t look at him; instead, he was too busy staring at the spade. He was certain something had changed about its shape, even though its length seemed to be about the same. “Milton?”

“Sorry, but … is there something different with your spade?”

Matthew grabbed the handle, and pulled his weapon out of the ground. Milton didn’t need to touch it at all; just seeing Matthew hold onto the grip was enough for him to realise why it was different. Before, it was structured one would expect to find on a normal spade; now, it had been replaced by a metal, crescent shaped cross-guard with a horizontal strip of wood in the middle acting as the grip. On Matthew’s hand, the tips of the cross-guard reached the base of his wrist, but allowed him space to manoeuvre however he pleased without stabbing himself. The shape of the head stayed the same, although the edges appeared thinner and sharper.

“It was Tom’s idea,” said Matthew, grinning. “He thought we should make it more battle ready.” He held the spade out, and Milton took it anyway. On closer inspection, there were faint, overlapping scratches on all the metallic parts. He ran his thumb over the edge of the handle; at first, he was surprised that it was blunt, but then he realised that it was for defensive purposes, as opposed to the offensive nature of the head.

“And the mud?” Milton handed the spade back.

“Safety,” said Matthew. He plunged the spade back into the ground, a little to the left of the gap he pulled it out of, but kept half of the head exposed. “We thought about making a proper moat, but it was going to take us forever to dig one. Tom and Ben have gone to Tim – Minchin, not Key – to see if he can give us a hand.”

“What if they can’t reach our Tim?”

“They’re going to try and get Mark alone. If they can’t, then we’re going to settle for the mud. It’s not as shallow as it looks. Go on, step in it.”

Milton crouched down, and dipped his hand in instead. He was expecting to reach the bottom soon, but by the time his knuckles had completely submerged, he was nowhere near. He pulled his hand out, and was about to wipe it on his coat when Matthew stopped him, and held out his hand. Milton took it, and soon the mud crumbled away as loose soil.

“How deep is it?” said Milton, when Matthew let go of him.

“Neck high at my height,” said Matthew. “I think it might just stop at your shoulders.”

“It’s not a bad defence at all.” Milton glanced at the moat again; he reckoned it was near impossible to get over in a single leap. “Although, how _are_ you getting over it?”

“I made it. I’ve got full control over it. We _have_ tested it, Milton. Ben can fly over it, no matter which form he uses, and Tom can use Ben to get over.”

“OK.”

Matthew glanced down at his feet, and Milton stared overhead, straight at the clear, sunny sky.

“So … has everything been OK for the past few days?” said Milton at last.

Matthew nodded. “Has Humphrey gone then?”

“Yeah, he just left an hour or so ago.”

“So it’s just you in the flat?”

“Yes.” Milton glared at him. “Anyway, are Tom and Ben going to be back soon?”

“I don’t know. Probably. Do you need to get back?”

“It looks like everything’s fine. You don’t need me around.”

When Milton returned to the flat, like before, he had to enter through the lobby entrance. Once again, he didn’t run into any of their neighbours, but he jumped when he reached their floor, and found Thom standing outside of their door.

“There you are, sweetheart,” said Thom. He tried to hug Milton, except the latter managed to shove him away in time.

“What are you doing here?” said Milton.

“I thought you might be bored, now that Humph’s gone to Edinburgh.”

“I doubt I’ll be bored. I still have chores to do,” said Milton as he slipped the keys into the locks. He pushed the door open, and ushered Thom in before continuing, “If it isn’t chores, it’s Clan business.”

“You haven’t heard anything yet from Capricorn?”

“No. She seems to have left my Clan members alone. Has Jason seen her yet?”

“Nobody has.” Thom was wandering around the flat, but for some reason, the mop caught his eye. He reached for it, but Milton clicked his fingers, and a gust knocked it over. “Alright, sweetheart, I was only going to take a look.”

“Hands off,” said Milton. “That mop’s important.”

“Alright, alright.” Thom walked over to and sat down on a sofa. “Go on then, what’s the secret?”

“What secret?”

“The mop. You must have done something to it.”

“I haven’t.” Milton figured that the less anybody knew about it, the better – regardless of what race they were. “I don’t want anybody touching my tools.”

Thom turned round to watch Milton prop the mop back in its corner outside Humphrey’s room. Milton glanced at the kitchen, but seeing as it was clean enough, he went to join Thom on the sofa, making sure to leave at least one cushion’s space between them.

“You’ve never been this protective,” said Thom.

“Drop it, Tuck.”

Thom stayed over for the rest of the afternoon, but was forced to leave around half four so he could be back home before his master. As Milton shut the door behind him, he kind of wished that Thom could have remained for a bit longer; when he wasn’t obsessed with invading personal space in as obtrusive a manner as possible, he actually liked having him around. Maybe it was the perks of having a younger leader; Milton was certainly sorry that he was, in all likelihood, not going to see through Thom’s leadership to the end.

Over the next five days, Milton had been expecting to receive an emergency call, or at least to see some sort of minor distress among his Clan members. Instead, every time he visited, he ended up helping Matthew fully get to grips with his new spade design, or watching over Tom and Ben’s practice spars and advising them on any weaknesses he could spot. When they weren’t busy beating each other up, attentions turned to their powers, and how they could enhance them.

“We’re trying to work out how to make boiling water,” said Matthew on the third day. He wasn’t sweating, but his palms were dimly glowing and flickering – all the signs that he was exhausting himself. “I know I can do it, but it’s not there yet.”

“How hot can you go?” said Milton.

“At the moment, lukewarm.”

“I’m not sure if you _can_ make it. You know that some aspects of our powers can’t be freely controlled.”

Matthew glanced down, gripped his wrist, and pushed his thumb underneath his shirt. The sleeve puffed up enough for Milton to see him stroking a faint, slightly raised mark, and he figured it must be one of the rat bites that had yet to fade properly.

With a sigh, Matthew said, “I know.”

While no such problems occurred with Tom, it became obvious from the piles of daggers and butterfly swords forming around his treehouse that Ben was experimenting with his metal abilities. Out of curiosity, Milton picked up a pair of butterfly swords, and despite some initial misgivings, managed to lift them above his head, although he didn’t encounter any problems with twirling or jabbing.

“Weighty metals aren’t your style at all,” was Milton’s verdict as he put the swords down again.

“I know, but we need–” said Ben.

“Focus on defence. Your metal can take a lot of blows. I reckon you can make something thick enough to throw Valet Capricorn’s scythe off guard.”

Humphrey wasn’t due back until three in the afternoon, and that gave Milton time to spend the morning with his members. He performed a check up on everyone first and, satisfied that his other members were getting on OK, went lastly to Tom, Ben, and Matthew. They had since installed another mud moat around Matthew’s place, but had yet to solve the mystery of how a rabbit had managed to swim through Tom and Ben’s moat and spent the night asleep by the roots of their tree. After another check up on Matthew’s spade, Milton had to run, lest he arrived later than Humphrey.

He went through the lobby again, and as he ran up the stairs and reached Warren’s landing, he checked his watch; it was ten to three. Now more relaxed, Milton walked the remaining distance – and started as he saw Humphrey standing outside the flat, his suitcase propped by the doorframe.

“Humphrey,” said Milton when he reached the top.

Humphrey turned round, fuming, and waved his hand at the door. Until then, Milton hadn’t even realised that it had been hacked at. Three slashes almost the same width as the door pierced straight through the wood. Up close, it was possible to see into the flat.

“We can fix this,” said Milton. He pulled out his keys, and handed them over to Humphrey. “When you get in, stay in your room. I’ll knock on your door when you can leave.”

It took Humphrey several attempts to get his keys in both locks, and when he succeeded, he shot into his room. Milton shut the door behind him, and then clicked his fingers. The resultant breeze gave him enough time to slip into Humphrey’s room before the door shut, and grab his Item. He tucked the jar under his coat, just in case that Gertrude or Warren came looking for them, and sidestepped out of the front door’s way.

He went into his own room and, knowing that it would be too risky if someone saw him in his outfit, first hung up his coat before using his Item.

“Milton?” said Tom.

“Can you remember how to get to the flat?” said Milton.

“Yeah…”

“Good. The door’s been hacked. I need you to get here and fix it now.”

“I’m coming.”

Milton was about to put his Item down when the pearl did a flip. He was about to take the call, but it stopped; suspecting that it must have been sent by mistake, he decided to see who had sent it anyway, and was surprised that it came from the Rabbit leader. The most likely situation was that he had tried to contact his Dragon Valet, but sent the call out to the wrong person.

He waited in his room for a few more minutes, and then heard a knock on the front door. He ran to fetch it and, seeing as Tom had arrived, watched him start to mend the damage.


	3. Chapter 3

“Will that do, Milton?” said Tom, when he finished five minutes later. Milton glanced up and down at his handiwork.

“I can’t find a crack,” said Milton. “The colouring’s spot on, but it looks too obvious. Can you finish it?” The mended parts looked so rough he didn’t want to touch it yet, just in case he caught splinters in his fingertips.

He stepped back to allow Tom to run his hands over his work. He rubbed his palm in small circles, and moved at a steady pace, taking his time to iron out the rough finishing. The splinters faded, and a finishing gleam coated the wood, which this time really did blend it with the door.

“That’s perfect,” said Milton when he ran his fingers over the finished product, now at the standard he required. “You’re free to go, unless there’s anything you need me for?”

“Not really,” said Tom.

Milton waited until Tom had disappeared down the stairs before he went back into the flat. He knocked on Humphrey’s door first before returning to his room to wear his coat again. He straightened out the tails, and was about to pick up the jar when he winced, and clutched his head. He stumbled backwards into his spare coats, and slumped against the wall as his headache worsened.

He shut his eyes, and saw blurred flashes of the forest, but from the angle of somebody lying down. The only landmarks he could figure were clusters of trees, and the outline of a nearby rabbit. In the space nearest to him were a silver sparkle, and the top section of a pair of glasses.

“Humphrey–” said Milton as he stormed out of his room. Humphrey stared at him from the kitchen. “–Emergency call–”

He glanced out of the open window opposite the kitchen, and saw Tom leave through the lobby doors. Milton jumped out, and without giving any warning, flew straight into the other Valet. In one easy swoop, Milton picked him up as he started to rise up into the air again. He didn’t have to say anything to Tom; within moments, he was holding onto a monkey.

“Matthew’s in trouble,” said Milton, as he allowed Tom to climb onto his back. “I got his emergency call. I don’t know about Ben, but we have to hurry up.”

***

“Matthew. Matthew.”

Ben tightened his grip on his rake as he walked around, trying to work out where Matthew had run off to. In hindsight, he wished he’d gone back to either treehouse the moment Milton called for Tom, or at least stayed in the inner circle of the moats. All it took was for Capricorn to leap out at them, and without even checking where Matthew was going, Ben only realised later on that he’d fled in a different direction.

He brushed an overhanging tree branch back with his rake, and his foot squelched on the next step. He knelt down as he noticed that he had trodden in a puddle of mud; and slightly further ahead was another one. Ben stood up again, and as he approached the second puddle, he realised that Matthew must have left a trail. He started following the puddles; several times, he noticed, from the corner of his eye, a mix of squirrels and rabbits dashing in and out of sight.

“Shit.”

It turned out that the trail lead to Matthew’s spade, horns, and glasses, discarded in a pile on the floor. Ben knelt down to double check over everything; nothing was broken, but judging by the cleanliness of the spade, he doubted Matthew had put up much of a fight, or even had the chance to. His palms glowing, he first fashioned a line of hooks that allowed him to attach Matthew’s spade vertically to the back of his jeans, before he formed a shackle that locked the horns and glasses in place.

When Ben stood up again, he stared at the horns for a moment. At first, he was fine, but then he needed his rake for support as he felt his legs buckle. He wrapped his wings around his body, and breathed in and out of his hot breath trapped in the pocket of space under his chin. He wondered whether he should just stay there, and wait for Milton and/or Tom first. He figured Milton must have got one of their emergency calls – they knew Capricorn couldn’t block them out entirely–

What if she had, though? What if, right now, Milton was in the flat, unaware of what was happening? What if Tom was still needed as well? How long was he going to have to wait for them to come? He was more than certain that Capricorn had taken Matthew hostage; could he risk waiting for help first before going to rescue Matthew?

With a deep breath, Ben unwrapped his wings, and stepped over the horns and glasses. He kept the metal end of his rake close to the ground as he walked on, guided by a trail he suspected was made by Capricorn dragging Matthew behind her. Even though his hands were still, his breathing quickened the longer he followed the trail. Every now and then, he looked up, but he only saw birds flying above him. He gripped the ends of his cravat, and tried to send a message to Milton, but struggled to get through to anybody. Along with the occasional stomach pains he was feeling, he knew that Capricorn was near.

Capricorn had never seemed to be such a threat at the tree house, but now that Ben was facing her alone, he wondered why he’d rejected Milton’s offer. He tried to get through to Tom, but met the same blocked response.

Ben unhooked Matthew’s spade and continued walking on, though his stride shrunk with each step. He flinched when he caught the tip of his wings on a nearby tree, and jumped when he almost tripped over a grazing rabbit. At one point, he had to stop to lean on his rake again, partially because he wanted to balance out his breathing, but also because of the bitter taste building up in the back of his throat. He considered turning back and waiting for Milton again, but it was Matthew in trouble – no, he couldn’t risk it–

He tried to straighten out his wings, but only his left one moved; the right remained flopped and trailing on the ground. Not that he cared right now; he bent over, wincing at the stomach pains. It seemed that it didn’t matter if he moved or not – Capricorn had to be approaching if the side effects were worsening.

His legs didn’t want to move. Instead, he brushed his left wing against his cheek, his temple resting on the spine. He pressed Matthew’s spade under his armpit, so that his hand was free to run through layers of his feathers. For a moment, he swore he could feel Tom’s hand on top of his, rustling through the same section of feathers, like they sometimes did on mornings when neither of them felt like getting out of bed just yet. With a quick wipe of his eyes on his feathers, he unfolded his wing, and noticed a rabbit staring at his direction.

He had no sooner grabbed hold of Matthew’s spade again when he flinched out of the way, and only just missed Capricorn’s scythe. Both his wings shot open, and he instinctively held his rake in front of him. As he expected, he watched Capricorn let go of Matthew so she could hold onto her scythe with both hands again.

“What have you done with Matthew?” said Ben.

“Absolutely nothing,” said Capricorn. “I knew he was the weakest out of you three, but my goodness, he was even flimsier than I first thought.” She kicked Matthew’s limp body, and he rolled over; dirt coated the back of his jeans and shoes, but otherwise he really was completely fine.

Capricorn charged. Ben retreated, but her scythe meant that she didn’t need to be up close to him in order to attempt a swipe. He had to block again with his rake, and was about to attempt to hit her on the hips with the spade, until he realised the handle was too short. He pulled his rake away, and, taking advantage of his wings, glided backwards a couple of paces. The move gave him enough time to hook the spade again, and had only just placed his right hand higher up his rake than his left when Capricorn’s scythe came down on him again.

He blocked her blow with the rake. This time, he dragged the interlinked weapons to his left, and pulled his rake out mid-way through, so that her scythe continued hurtling towards the ground. He swung his rake above his head, and used the build up to swipe down at Capricorn’s waist. By this point, she had only just stopped her scythe from going into the ground, and she rolled out of the way to avoid the rake. Her move took Ben by surprise, and the tips of his rake prodded the soil.

Ben raised his weapon with ease, but the delay was enough for Capricorn to start running away. At first, he followed by also running, but then glided and caught up with her. He rose higher, so that his body was well over her head, and brought down his rake; she turned around, and blocked with her scythe. She dragged her weapon out, and swiped for his right wing. Ben rolled over once in the air, and only just balanced himself out when the other end of the scythe shot at his left wing.

Even though the hit landed centimetres under Ben’s bald patch, it was still close enough for pain to shoot through his wing, and he half-landed, half-dropped onto his front. The spade slid out of his back, and his rake landed next to him. He managed to sit up, but his wing hurt so much, the most he could do was wrap it around him; right now, he didn’t even care that Capricorn was standing over him, smirking. A quick check showed nothing worse than a reddening spot from where the scythe had struck.

Ben reached for his rake, but pulled his arm back when Capricorn dropped her scythe in front.

“Come on, Clark,” she said. “You’re smarter than this.”

Ben tried to reach for the spade, but his wing was still hurting, and even trying to slightly brush it aside was too much. He tried to get up, but Capricorn flipped her scythe over, and pointed the blade upwards at his chin.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” said Ben.

“Don’t tell me you genuinely believe it’s a co-incidence that I’m attacking you when Parry’s away.”

Ben lowered his glance at the scythe. Could he grab his rake and get out of the way before Capricorn could raise her weapon any higher?

“You planned all this?” he said.

“Of course I had to.” Capricorn raised her scythe even higher, leaving Ben with no chance for escape. “Don’t pretend you ever had a choice. This was only going to end one way.”

Ben glanced to his right, wondering if it was still just about possible to grab his rake. Then, Capricorn swung her scythe back and smacked the side of his head with the surface of the blade. He fell over, and she pinned him down for good by his neck. Most of her body weight was crushing his left wing, which only worsened the pain so much, Ben couldn’t even consider fighting back.

She kneeled even harder on his wing; at that point, Ben would have preferred it if she just broke his wing joint instead. He tried reaching for his rake, but he couldn’t unclench his fists. Instead, he was forced to watch Capricorn pick it up, and felt the wooden end smack the back of his head. Combined with the pain coming from his wing, he soon passed out.

***

Milton didn’t want to admit he was lost, but he knew that circling the same area four times was enough to raise Tom’s suspicions. By the fifth turning, he swooped further down, but still kept going in the air. Fact was, he hadn’t seen enough from Matthew’s emergency call to pinpoint a definite location, and it was worrying him that he couldn’t even seem to see Matthew from the air.

Tom’s tail slapped him near his armpits, and he glanced to his side, to see the monkey pointing down at a spot. Milton followed his directions, and, to some relief, finally found a pair of glasses and horns. At least they actually had something to go by now, even if his worst fear in that situation had been confirmed, that Matthew was in trouble.

Tom hopped off Milton’s shoulder when they were close enough to the ground, and by the time the latter landed properly, Tom had changed back, and was kneeling in front of Matthew’s items. When Milton walked closer, it was only then he realised that both had been shackled down.

“Is that Ben’s work?” said Milton as he too kneeled down.

Tom didn’t nod straightaway, but inspected both shackles closely first. With his left hand, he traced his thumb over the lock holding down the glasses; with his right, a wooden key formed in his palm. The key worked on both locks.

“How did you–” said Milton.

“Special lock,” said Tom. He lifted Matthew’s glasses up first, before passing both items to Milton. “Ben and I worked on it.”

“Where’s the spade?”

Tom leapt to his feet, and as he checked their nearby surroundings, Milton walked over to what looked like two trails. One cut into the earth, like a heavy object had been dragged on the ground; and the other was made of feathers following the same trail. He picked up the nearest one, and only needed to rotate it half a turn to recognise it as one of Ben’s.

“It’s not here,” said Tom when he came back. He went over to Milton, and also picked up a feather.

“It’s Ben’s, isn’t it?” said Milton. Tom nodded. “He must have taken the spade with him. Come on.”

Milton held out his arm, and moments later, Tom climbed on in his monkey form again. The dragon hovered close to the ground as he followed the trails, while making sure that no stray gust blew aside the feathers. He felt his shirt being tugged to his left, and Tom’s fingers digging into his shoulder. It was at moments like that that Milton wished he could summon his physical wings again, so that he could flap them to cover the sound of his own heartbeat.

It took them minutes to reach Matthew, who was still unconscious on the ground. Tom jumped ahead of Milton, and touched the ground again in his human form. He swore as he ran to check that Matthew was OK; and Milton, instead of joining Tom, walked off to where the spade and rake lay.

He picked up the spade first, and even though the cleanliness showed it had been barely used at all, he still continued to stare at the head, because he didn’t want to acknowledge the feathers scattered next to the weapons. His hands trembled; when he grabbed the handle as well, the spade shook too.

“Milton…?” said Matthew.

He turned around, and saw Matthew wincing and rubbing the back of his head while Tom helped him up. The latter, however, was staring straight at the feathers, and then at Milton, as if to demand an explanation.

Milton avoided Tom’s glare as he walked over to Matthew, and handed him his glasses first, then his horns, and finally the spade.

“Are you OK?” said Milton.

“I think so…” Matthew’s eyes weren’t fully open yet, and from the way he was waving his hands around, it seemed he was still disorientated. “Where’s Capricorn?”

Tom chose that moment to move past them. Milton wanted to say something to him, but instead, all he did was bite as lip. He watched Tom pick up the rake, and turn it over frantically in his hands. He was, no doubt, trying to find something to prove that it wasn’t Ben’s, that it was probably a generic one anybody could buy at a shop, but from the handiwork of the head alone – the fragile looking metal, the worn down uneven lengths of each individual tooth, and how it shone from being constantly cleaned – there was no ambiguity over whose rake it was.

“Clarky…” said Tom. He lifted his head up, and then began to run while bellowing for Ben.

“Tom–” Matthew tried to get up, but Milton placed his hands on his shoulders, and forced him to stay down. Matthew glared; in response, his leader just shook his head.

“You weren’t her target,” said Milton. He sighed, and let go of Matthew’s shoulders first, before he thumped the ground with his fists.

“Milton.”

“Don’t. I should have seen this.” With a frustrated yell, Milton punched the ground again. So that was why the door had been hacked at; Capricorn never wanted a fight, and once Tom was out of the way, she must have used Matthew to get through to Ben.

Tom was still shouting for Ben; with each cry, it only made Milton want to throw another punch. He was the one who told them to stay together – if only he had called all three to the flat. He should have seen through the plan earlier, but Capricorn’s absence had lulled him into thinking everything would be fine if Tom was gone for a while.

Milton calmed himself down, and waited until he was breathing in regular patterns again before he got up. He held out his hand for Matthew, and the latter took it as he also got up without any problems.

“Are you sure you’re OK?” said Milton.

“Yeah,” said Matthew. “I’m fine.”

“Come on, let’s find Ben.”

Even though Milton walked ahead to find Tom, he made sure to keep Matthew within touching distance of him. It was only when they regrouped that Milton flew, to try and spot Ben from the air; but once he was out of sight from his Valets, he still needed time to breathe first before starting his search.


End file.
